wellness colors

7/29/2019 Wellness Colors

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TheColors of Healing

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Mary Nance believes that color carries emotionand creates a language between people thatanyone can understand.

Wearing traditional regalia in my new designs

allows me to tell my cancer story, she says. Sharing

her story is what she does bestat any kind of

gathering, be it church groups, support groups or

conferences. At times I am a walking conversation

piece.

Mary, of Hispanic and Kickapoo Tribe descent

from Eagle Pass, Texas, was diagnosed with breast

cancer in 2000. She was just 46 years old.

Before having cancer, self-exams and annual

checkups had always been important to Mary. Thats

because when she was 19 years old she had a scare.

After some discomfort in her left breast she went

and had an exam at the Indian Health Service clinic.

She was told that she needed minor surgery. Three

small tumors were removed. The good news was thatthey were not cancerous.

Just the same, Mary remembers how frightening

it was when she signed a form saying it was okay to

remove her breast if cancer was found. That was a

nightmare, she says. Though she worried whenever

it was time for another exam, Mary knew that the

best way to stay one step ahead of cancer was to go

to her annual checkups. The idea was that if cancer

ever happened the best way to fight it was to find it

early and treat it sooner.

And one day it did, in 2000.

Mary was at the Police Academy in New Mexico

when she discovered the lump that, after testing,

proved to be cancer. It had a hard woody feel to

the touch. My bra caused so much discomfort to

the area. The lump was underneath her left breast,

below her bra line.

I was working 12-hour days and all I could do

was rub or massage the area all day long to relieve

the discomfort. She went home to Casa Grande,

Arizona to see the doctor. Testing revealed she had

Stage II breast cancer.

The first thing I did when I went to see the

oncologist was to ask him, point blank, whetherhe believed in God. He assured Mary that he did.

Then I told him I also believed in the healing power

of herbs in combination with western medicine.

Mary agreed to tell the doctor everything she

was doing so that the traditional medicines could

work with treatment, not against it. Mary comes from

a line of curanderos, people who heal with natural

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medicine. As a child Mary s mother used to take her

on walks to gather plants. Her mother reminded her

often to be very careful when gathering medicinal

plants, because they were able to give back life, she

said. As a result, Mary knows that without the right

knowledge, some traditional medicines could make

chemotherapy treatment harder. But understanding

herbs, and sharing with the doctor what was being

done, could bring her comfort and aid in healing

be it physical, emotional, or spiritual.

The surgeon performed a lumpectomy, which is

the removal of the lump, not the breast.

After surgery, Mary had chemotherapy

treatment, and then radiation, which was very

difficult. Mary says she could not have kept up her

spirits without the support of her family, friends and

children. My son John was the main care giver from

the beginning of my diagnosis. Her other children,

Bryan, Annie, and Julie, also provided Mary with the

support she needed. Above all, I give credit to my

Creator, she says.

Today, Mary is still cancer free. She is also still

faithful to her exams, though shes had a few more

scares along the way. Recently she had a swelling of

the lymph nodes and discomfort around her neck

area. It scared her, but tests showed she had nothingto worry about. So in many ways, she says, tests are

also about peace of mind.

In the nearly ten years since her diagnosis,

quilts have become another, powerful way for Mary

to show gratitude for the life she has been given.

Making quilts was a necessity as a child. Later in

life, and with the help of her mother-in-law, Anna

May Nance, she learned the art of quilt designs. Soon

a vision of making quilts for cancer patients and

survivors had begun. She and a group of volunteers

make as many as 200 quilts a year for cancer patients

and longtime survivors. The quilts are distributed

locally and nationally to American Indians and Alaska

Natives through Native Peoples Circle of Hope. Mary

is the head of a local chapter in Casa Grande.

Support to other survivors, grief for those

who have passed on, and gratitude for her own life,

continue to take on new colors and form. Mary has

dresses in pink, and yellow, and has plans for a blue

one, too. (Marys dresses are sewn by her friend

and seamstress, Judy Brattly.) Her jewelry also has

meaning. Through my jewelry I weave my childrens

contributions.

The yellow beads are hope, she says.

Turquoise is my son, my caregiver, his love and

tears for mom. The seashell represents water, life.

The red beads are for my bloodline, for my children

and a symbol of the preservation of life. Red is also

my passion for the next generation to come. It is

my passion for my son, my two daughters, and two

granddaughters. These are my reasons for living.

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